Oklahoma Weather Tracking Licensure Legislation

[J Holder]

I can't see where this is going to pass constitutional muster IF passed, but time will tell.

That said, does this surprise anyone? I've been complaining for years about stupid chaser stunts were going to bring us to this and unfortunately, I was right.

Oklahoma won't be the last state to try this, in fact I'm amazed that the .gov hasn't put their crosshairs on chase tours yet. Taking paying passengers across state lines is textbook interstate commerce and after the SLT debacle in 2019 a bunch of area locals did lobby for a deeper investigation into Roger Hill's operation.

 

[Warren Faidley]

Well I was off to bed...... but I received some inside information that the people working on this bill have some "really bad intent" in the long run. I cannot disclose this information as it was private, but hopefully soon. This is WWIII for chasing and we just got bombed. We are in a fight to save storm chasing as we know it.

 

[gdlewen]

Well I was off to bed...... but I received some inside information that the people working on this bill have some "really bad intent" in the long run. I cannot disclose this information as it was private, but hopefully soon. This is WWIII for chasing and we just got bombed. We are in a fight to save storm chasing as we know it.

Well it will help if the person who told you would find a way to make this information public.

Right now Fetgatter and the entire Business Committee thinks it’s just to allow media chasers to run red lights.

 

[Dan Robinson]

Warren, please let us know what you think are effective actions for individual chasers to take. A lot of us (me included) don't have any experience fighting these kinds of battles.

 

[Ben Holcomb]

With the summit in just over a week, that might be a good chance for folks to get informed and into the fight. Erik has been active on the fight of this. With that said, I obviously have a rep in the house and senate living in Oklahoma. It seems reasonable for me to reach out to them like Brett did, but I was hoping to catch them closer to when they'll actually hold a floor vote.

I actually saw some statists on X saying that they were in favor of some legislation to 'get it(chasing) under control' yesterday, so we may find that some people are actually for something like this. Hope not.

 

[Warren Faidley]

Good morning. I'm going to talk to my contact sometime this morning. I will ask if he will pass on the information or allow me to do so. He is a well-known chaser. All I can say is hold on to your hats. "Sb158 is only the first step, in what will be a larger effort down the road." I believe the comments by Sen. Mann to KFOR that the goal is to remove amateurs from roadways is 100% accurate. I remind you that 99% of chasers will be viewed as "amateurs" since we cannot be licensed.

The legal steps to stop this bill will continue, but since it's not a bill yet, it's a waste of time and money to pursue it right now. Our best bet is strong lobbying by chasers, LE, EMS, journalists, etc., arguing the dangers of the bill to public safety, NOT because you upset that your chasing will be hindered. It's a worthless argument because they don't care.

 

[Ben Holcomb]

I truly thought the mileage tax pilot in the 2021 Omnibus/"infrastructure" bill would be the spike in the heart of chasing, not direct legislation by the Oklahoma Legislature.

 

[gdlewen]

With the summit in just over a week, that might be a good chance for folks to get informed and into the fight. Erik has been active on the fight of this. With that said, I obviously have a rep in the house and senate living in Oklahoma. It seems reasonable for me to reach out to them like Brett did, but I was hoping to catch them closer to when they'll actually hold a floor vote.

I actually saw some statists on X saying that they were in favor of some legislation to 'get it(chasing) under control' yesterday, so we may find that some people are actually for something like this. Hope not.

Don't wait for a floor vote. Get to the committees that hear it first.

Don't assume you will know when the Committee will hear the bill.

Don't wait to see it on an agenda. Committee agendas are sometimes not posted until just before they meet. Literally on the day of your committee meeting these guys are so busy they might not see an email or get a phone message until things quiet down at the end of the day.

Don't assume--like I did with the House Business Committee--that the most important bills will be heard first. This looks like being it's being rushed through ahead of the opposition.

With 3000+ bills filed between both chambers you'd think a "media chasers running red lights" bill would have trouble being heard. It only benefits a handful of people in the state, right?

Alas! No....

 

[Mike Smith]

Don't wait for a floor vote. Get to the committees that hear it first.

Don't assume you will know when the Committee will hear the bill.

For us out-of-staters, could someone post the names and contact info of people to contact? Thank you!

 

[Jesse Risley]

I can't see where this is going to pass constitutional muster IF passed, but time will tell.

That said, does this surprise anyone? I've been complaining for years about stupid chaser stunts were going to bring us to this and unfortunately, I was right.

Oklahoma won't be the last state to try this, in fact I'm amazed that the .gov hasn't put their crosshairs on chase tours yet. Taking paying passengers across state lines is textbook interstate commerce and after the SLT debacle in 2019 a bunch of area locals did lobby for a deeper investigation into Roger Hill's operation.

It probably wouldn't but ever wonder why so many major constitutional cases tend to revolve around some seemingly trivial event that mushroomed into something bigger? It's usually because someone with deep pockets or judicial prowess got pissed off enough to fight it. Someone will need to be a test case and muster the wherewithal to challenge the law to review its constitutionality IF it actually passes and becomes standing state fiat since at that point the only hope would be through judicial review. That could also involve a litigator who was willing to tackle the case pro bono if a chaser or chasers did not have the desire to push the issue beyond paying the fine and taking a guilty plea.

 

[Jamie H]

Rep Scott Fetgatter

Oklahoma House of Representatives

Welcome to Oklahoma's House of Representatives website!

www.okhouse.gov

2300 N. Lincoln Blvd., Room 455
Oklahoma City, OK 73105
(405) 557-7373

Sen Mark Mann

Mark Mann | Oklahoma Senate

Senator Mark Mann was elected to the Oklahoma Senate in 2024, representing District 46, including Del City and parts of Oklahoma City.

oksenate.gov

2300 N. Lincoln Blvd., Rm. 515.2
Oklahoma City, OK 73105
(405) 521-5610

Oklahoma Democrats

Oklahoma Democratic Party

Oklahoma Democrats are committed to putting the people of Oklahoma first by promoting the values and policies that advance the common good and expand opportunities for every resident of our state. Our values call upon us to make our state the best in the nation.

www.okdemocrats.org

3815 N Santa Fe Ave., Suite 122,
Oklahoma City, OK 73118

Oklahoma Republicans

COUNTY DIRECTORY - OKGOP

If you need to get in touch with your local Republican Party, please complete this form.

okgop.com

4031 N. LINCOLN BOULEVARD
OKLAHOMA CITY, OK 73105
(405) 528-3501

Email, call, write a letter - just be polite and raise your concern. The more the individuals and parties hear from people, the more they'll listen.

 

[Blake Naftel]

Sorry about the work situation......

I still have to kindly disagree. Not going to rehash the arguments I've made, but Sen. Mann has spoken and I'm going to trust him when he tells KFOR, "Safety is the focal point of this bill, aiming to get amateurs off the roads and allow professional storm chasers to act as emergency responders." That's clear as hell and he can walk it back all he wants, as politicians do. I firmly believe that whoever dictated the bill to him had that goal in mind.

Anyone who does not view this bill as a threat is dreaming.

Sorry about the work situation......

I still have to kindly disagree. Not going to rehash the arguments I've made, but Sen. Mann has spoken and I'm going to trust him when he tells KFOR, "Safety is the focal point of this bill, aiming to get amateurs off the roads and allow professional storm chasers to act as emergency responders." That's clear as hell and he can walk it back all he wants, as politicians do. I firmly believe that whoever dictated the bill to him had that goal in mind.

Anyone who does not view this bill as a threat is dreaming.

I've caught up to speed on this, finally and now clearly see this as a regulatory issue as a limitation to many. I will forward a email from Randy Zipser to this thread that relates directly to this ongoing discussion.

Off topic: It's all good on the "work" situation, Warren, as the weather comedy show is merely moving on elsewhere, more fittingly to a theatre stage called The Annoyance.

Back to the discussion.

Blake

 

[Blake Naftel]

This is a email message forwarded along with permission by Randy Zipser from 4 February 2024. Lengthy, but worth it for some additional context and perspectives:

I’m not too surprised that the State of Oklahoma would take some regulatory measures to “reel in” the unfettered behavior of storm chasers (and others) on that state’s public roads and highways during severe-weather events. Even decades ago when I was actively chasing, talk and ideas like this popped up occasionally in discussions among chasers and even informally on early social media and storm-chase-community platforms.

Back in the early 1980s, I served as the first Oklahoma State Floodplain Coordinator under the newly-created National Flood Insurance Program (NFIP). The state of Oklahoma was very proactive back then in the development of state regulations to protect Oklahoma residents living in areas subject to repeated flooding. I have not been a resident of Oklahoma for over 40 years now, but do know that Oklahoma gained a reputation during those early days of the NFIP as a national leader in pioneering a model for state flood regulations, so well that other states later emulated their example.

Could this Storm Chaser Licensure bill, introduced by Senator Mark Mann (D-District 46), and currently before the Oklahoma State Legislature, be a similar example of Oklahoma taking a very proactive stance to deal with what they perceive as a problem to protect their citizens, whether real or imaginary? I’m not taking sides either way in this debate, but merely pointing out that the state of Oklahoma takes its natural disasters—of which tornadoes top the list—very seriously. There is historical precedent for this, at least during the years when I worked for its residents.

A more important and practical question is whether regulating storm chasers on a state level could even work at all. Unlike flood regulations, which apply only to residents who own property in floodplains, the public roads in Oklahoma are just that: public. This means that anyone, whether a tax-paying resident of Oklahoma, or not, has the freedom and federal right to use those roads at any time, including during potential natural disaster events. This legislation, if it becomes state law, becomes very problematic to enforce because there are likely hundreds of amateur storm-chasers with out-of-state license plates legally populating these already-clogged Oklahoma roads. How is the state of Oklahoma going to regulate those chasers, who are not Oklahoma residents and technically not subject to this law, as long as they strictly obey all of Oklahoma’s driving-safety laws? What about an out-of-state guest-chaser in a vehicle with an Oklahoma resident: will they be required to purchase a temporary or seasonal “storm chaser license” while being on Oklahoma roads to chase? And, if using the Interstate highway system in Oklahoma, which was largely funded using federal tax-dollars, does charging what amounts to an additional state fee for using these highways constitute double taxation? I’m not an attorney, but it seems that these are just a few examples of how this law could be a “nightmare,” of not impossible in practice, for the OHP to enforce, let alone diverting troopers’ precious time, especially in dangerous and potentially-deadly weather situations, which Oklahoma is famous for.

Is the current legislation really about public safety or is it just another coffer-filling, governmental overreach? It will be interesting to see how the state of Oklahoma finally decides this issue, if ever.

Randy Zipser

 

[gdlewen]

Rep Scott Fetgatter

Oklahoma House of Representatives

Welcome to Oklahoma's House of Representatives website!

www.okhouse.gov

2300 N. Lincoln Blvd., Room 455
Oklahoma City, OK 73105
(405) 557-7373

Sen Mark Mann

Mark Mann | Oklahoma Senate

Senator Mark Mann was elected to the Oklahoma Senate in 2024, representing District 46, including Del City and parts of Oklahoma City.

oksenate.gov

2300 N. Lincoln Blvd., Rm. 515.2
Oklahoma City, OK 73105
(405) 521-5610

Oklahoma Democrats

Oklahoma Democratic Party

Oklahoma Democrats are committed to putting the people of Oklahoma first by promoting the values and policies that advance the common good and expand opportunities for every resident of our state. Our values call upon us to make our state the best in the nation.

www.okdemocrats.org

3815 N Santa Fe Ave., Suite 122,
Oklahoma City, OK 73118

Oklahoma Republicans

COUNTY DIRECTORY - OKGOP

If you need to get in touch with your local Republican Party, please complete this form.

okgop.com

4031 N. LINCOLN BOULEVARD
OKLAHOMA CITY, OK 73105
(405) 528-3501

Email, call, write a letter - just be polite and raise your concern. The more the individuals and parties hear from people, the more they'll listen.

This bill goes here in the OK Senate...not sure when.

Retirement and Government Resources | Oklahoma Senate

oksenate.gov

 

[Mike Smith]

I just sent the follow to Rep. Fetgatter from Okmulgee. I will send it to others shorty. Feel free to use it as a template.

Dear Representative Fetgatter,

As background, I am a former Oklahoman, a graduate of OU's School of Meteorology, and was one of the original (1972) NSSL/OU storm chasers. I am also a retired Fellow of the American Meteorological Society and Sr. Vice President of AccuWeather Enterprise Solutions. We provided site-specific tornado and other storm warnings numerous clients in the Sooner State.

I believe the bill to regulate storm chasing, while well-intended, should not pass into law. Storm tourism and storm chasing provides valuable data to the National Weather Service for real-time storm warnings and provides a significant boost to rural Oklahoma's economy. I happened to visit a rural convenience store and the manager was thrilled that storm chasers gave him "the biggest day in our history." Many storm tour customers fly into Will Rogers.

Oklahoma Highway Patrol spokesman Pat Mays attended one of our national storm chase conventions and told us they welcome storm chasers because of the vital information we provide (and, yes, I still occasionally chase). Should the bill become law, my days of chasing in Oklahoma are over as will be the case with hundreds of other well-qualified chasers.

I hope you and your fellow members of the state legislature will vote no on the bill when you have an opportunity.

Thank you for your kind attention and I would be happy to answer any questions you may have.

Very best wishes,

Mike Smith, CCM